MS Dhoni led India to triumph in the last World Cup. He recently retired from Tests to concentrate on ODIs and is looking for an encore.
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For the first time since 1987, India will go into an ICC World Cup as defending Champions. Back then they were knocked out in the semi finals. This time they are being tagged as one of the favourites to win the Cup again. But does MS Dhoni really have a team that can produce an encore of the 2011 triumph in foreign conditions?
The fact that India will have spent well over two months in Australian conditions before the World Cup begins is something that will be seen as a big advantage, but the results so far haven't really been encouraging. After a Test series loss, most cricket fans expected the Men in Blue to dominate the ongoing tri-series. However after two matches, the team doesn't have a single point. What has also puzzled many fans and experts is Dhoni's decision to bat first both times after winning the toss.
According to former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, the team is using the tri-series to experiment and come up with the best possible combinations. Gavaskar told NDTV, "India is definitely looking at this tri-series as an experiment to try and see how they will fare. If they bat first, to try and look at the different bowling options, different batting order, so that is exactly what is happening. I believe we will see that in the next two matches as well. In the next two games they would want to chase."
Regardless of the catastrophic collapse against England in the second ODI, batting and specifically chasing remains India's strength. Since the 2011 World Cup, out of the 57 times that India chased in ODIs, they won 36.
But, like in the first two ODIs of the ongoing tri-series they will not be chasing every time. Does the team have the bowling to deliver the goods then? The answer perhaps is no.
Gavaskar in fact told NDTV, "The problem I think is the fact that India's bowlers have really learnt nothing from their overseas experiences over the years in limited overs cricket. So, that is the worry. We are just hoping that when the World Cup comes, the fact that they are the defending champions will be tremendous motivation. At the moment it just looks to me as if the bowlers are bowling well but within themselves, because they have had a long tour of a Test series and they don't want to stretch themselves to such an extent that they might cause some injury."
India don't have bowlers like Johnson, Starc, Steyn and Anderson in their ranks, but what is perhaps a bigger worry is that the team doesn't have spinners who can deliver regularly in foreign conditions either. So who will be the bowlers Dhoni will put on his first choice list?
For Gavaskar it has to be those who can also add to the batting. "My first choice of bowlers would be Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami. I would go in with these two, I would go in with Stuart Binny and I would go in with two spinners as well, because of the simple reason that Bhuvneshwar Kumar can bat a little bit, he is also a pretty good fielder. Mohammad Shami also can tonk the ball a bit and he is a very good fielder as well. So, I am looking at a team which will have batting depth."
Over a billion people are hoping that Dhoni and his team can win the Cup again, but is this team really one of the favourites to win the ultimate prize in limited overs cricket?
Sunil Gavaskar thinks so. "Yes, they are. I am pretty confident. Qualifying for the knockouts should not be a problem. Once you get into the knockouts it's really the luck of the day that counts. If India have qualified by winning most of their league games then they will certainly be in the right frame of mind to defend the World Cup."
In the history of the World Cup, only two teams (West Indies and Australia) have managed to successfully defend the title. Team India have their task cut out. After all the final batting line-up is still being tested, the bowling is still very shaky and the conditions are foreign.
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